Why Is It Wrong to Want Less?

Choosing Less is Unacceptable

Bawled my eyes out watching Microhabitat the other day. The film follows Mi So, a woman in her early to mid-30s? Who finds pleasure in 3 simple things: a cigarette, a small glass of whiskey, and her boyfriend. Anything above those three things… is a luxury.

Over the years, she’s built a life around those things and living simply and working to sustain it. But when prices suddenly rise, her already difficult situation becomes even harder to maintain. Instead of giving up the small pleasures, she prioritizes them by choosing to move out.

With nowhere to go, Mi So unknowingly embarks on a journey of visiting each of her friends from her old friend group. Couch-hopping from one friend to another. Watching her reconnect with her friends made me realize how much society dislikes simplicity. None of her friends could understand how she was genuinely at peace with having so little. Some even looked down on her situation. But what I found the most interesting was that, despite all of them being in better financial situations than Mi So, they were more unhappy than she was. Every single one of them.

On the outside, they seemed to have better lives than Mi So. The spouse, the flashy house, the job, or even all three. But no one had the joy she had.

I could relate to Mi So so much. Her situation was more extreme than mine, but I deeply resonated with the judgment she faced for not conforming to society. I chose to give up a business that was doing really well and had the ability to scale 4x what it was already doing. I But it was leading me down a dark path. I was drifting further from my true self, altering my life to fit the image of the entity I was building. I was a mess doing it. I was mentally at my worst, a depressed pothead desperate for love, crying myself to sleep every other night. There was a void in my soul.

Now I’m choosing to live even simpler; no more car, had to go back home, no friends. So that I can build my career again. Something that aligns with me more, I want to make a living doing what I love. (If you want to hear about my serial entrepreneurial journey, check out my Substack for the raw and honest truth & stay tuned for my YouTube videos coming soon.)

People don’t understand that though. They just see it as me being a lazy & worthless… no fr someone actually called me that. But in reality? I’ve never had this much peace in my soul. Everrr. For the first time, I’m at a point in life where I’m genuinely content. I don’t feel like I’m missing something or needing something. Yes, I have goals and want to grow, but my soul? My soul is full. By the grace of God of course.

This movie felt like a reflection of how today’s society treats people who choose to live simply.. or just living outside of the “norm”. Mi So’s friends represent the world’s discomfort with those who don’t follow the expected path because they can’t understand it, they condemn it. Simplicity is often seen as laziness, lack of ambition, or even failure, when in reality, it’s much more rewarding life. But why is it so threatening? Maybe it’s because when we can’t control our life/our circumstances we look for something that we can control? Seeing someone live freely, unbothered by those constraints, forces them to question their own choices. And instead of facing that discomfort, it’s easier to just look down on the person who refuses to conform.